St. Nicholas Cathedral is a 13th century Gothic church in Elbląg

Elblag

Elbląg is a city in northern Poland with 127,892 inhabitants . It is the capital of Elbląg County and has been assigned to the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship since 1999. Before then it was the capital of Elbląg Voivodeship and a county seat in Gdańsk Voivodeship...

, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

.

History

When the burghers of Elbing (Elbląg) first attempted to adopt the Protestant Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

 in 1525, the provost of St. Nicholas Church maintained Catholic practice. Since 1539 the city council tacitly tolerated and gradually openly promoted Lutheranism

Lutheranism

Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...

, so that St. Nicholas Church had become a Lutheran church by 1573.

Following King Sigismund III

Sigismund III Vasa

Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...

's Prussian regency contract (1605) with Joachim Frederick of Brandenburg

Joachim Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg

Joachim III Frederick , of the House of Hohenzollern, was Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from 1598 until his death.-Biography:...

 and his Prussian enfeoffment contract (Treaty of Warsaw

Treaty of Warsaw

Treaty of Warsaw may refer to* Treaty of Warsaw , a Polono-Lithuanian-Swedish alliance during the Great Northern War* Treaty of Warsaw , an alliance between Britain, Austria, the Dutch Republic and Poland-Saxony agreeing to uphold the Pragmatic Sanction* Treaty of Warsaw , granting rights to...

, 1611) with John Sigismund of Brandenburg

John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg

John Sigismund was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from the House of Hohenzollern. He also served as a Duke of Prussia.-Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia:...

 these two rulers of Ducal Prussia

Ducal Prussia

The Duchy of Prussia or Ducal Prussia was a duchy in the eastern part of Prussia from 1525–1701. It was the first Protestant duchy with a dominant German-speaking population, as well as Polish and Lithuanian minorities...

 guaranteed free practice of Catholic religion in prevailingly Lutheran Prussia. Based on these contracts Prince-Bishop Szymon Rudnicki of Ermland/Warmia achieved the restitution of St. Nicholas as Roman Catholic parish church in 1612, then the only one in Elbing, and remaining a Catholic church since.

St. Nicholas was damaged by fire in the late 18^th century, then destroyed in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

and reconstructed. In 1992, the building was elevated to the status of cathedral.

WarmianMasurian Voivodeship°N date=December 2010°W